‘Blood moon’ eclipse delights young Kenyans

East Africa, along with the Middle East and parts of Europe, was forecast to have some of the best views of the lunar eclipse.

ECLIPSE

KAJIADO – “Mars, Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus Mercury, that’s the one I really wanted to see,” said Chu Owen as he used an app on his mobile phone to locate planets above.

“It’s the planets I’m really excited to see.”

Owen, 39, and his wife Susan Murabana set up their high-powered telescope at Lake Magadi, 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Friday to let the local community to watch the lunar eclipse.

East Africa, along with the Middle East and parts of Europe, was forecast to have some of the best views of the lunar eclipse the longest one this century.

“We’ve done this before for the solar eclipse in 2016,” said Murabana, 39.

For that eclipse, some 300 members of the local community who are mostly Maasai turned out to experience looking through the telescope.

“It’s good to give people who wouldn’t otherwise get to use a telescope like this an opportunity,” added Murabana as Owen manuevered the mechanical telescope into position.

The couple, who co-founded the Travelling Telescope Africa organisation, chose Lake Magadi as it is an isolated area far from the light pollution of towns and cities.

‘Really have to see it’

Murabana pointed to planets with a laser pen as a young local boy wearing shorts and a dark jumper climbed a small step-ladder to be the first to look through the telescope.